Wednesday, January 12, 2011

GITA A SARAH by Swami Shantananda Puri

Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi of Tiruvannamalai (Arunachala) fame, out of his compassion, selected 42 verses out of the 700 verses of Srimad Bhagavad Gita, as representing the quintessence of the entire Gita. It was called Gita Sar Sarah ah ah. The anecdote as to how he came to select them is interesting. A devotee once requested Bhagawan Ramana to give one sloka from the entire Bhagawad Gita which would represent the essence of the entire Gita. He also explained how it would be easy to commit to memory one verse instead of the entire Gita. Bhagavan Ramana selected and gave him one verse which comes as Sloka 4 in Gita Sarah. Later on he seleced all the 42 verses. He had selected them from all the chapters in the order of their importance and not sequentially. In this selection his main emphasis is on the Supreme Self and keeping one’s attention fixed on the Self. Even regarding the words Bhakti, surrender etc., Bhagavan has translated them as Jnana or ultimate knowledge. In this book, the author, while giving the meaning of each sloka, has closely followed the commentary of Adi Sankara. For instance, for the word ‘Samar Samarambhah’ ambhah’ translators have given the meaning as beginning of enterprises but as per Sankara it is ‘Sarva Karamani’ – All activities and not beginnings. (Yasy asy asya a sar sarve samar samarambhah. ambhah. For almost all the slokas, Bhagavan Ramana’s views on the topic dealt with in the slokas have been quoted citing reference to the ‘Talks with Bhagavan”. Each one of the selections is a gem. Hence, besides the meaning, a fairly elaborate commentary has also been given for each sloka.